


Sweet Nothings

by thedeepestdaydream



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Based on a Tumblr Post, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Eventual Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), M/M, Minor Aang/Katara, Oblivious Sokka (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, POV Sokka (Avatar), Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Slow Build, Slow Burn, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, The Jasmine Dragon (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27770656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedeepestdaydream/pseuds/thedeepestdaydream
Summary: Sokka knows three things about his soulmate:1. They aren’t Water Tribe2. They speak like some kind of aristocrat3. They're most likely a jerk
Relationships: Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 54
Kudos: 253





	1. Book 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote [a Tumblr post](https://thedeepestdaydream.tumblr.com/post/624044916315734016) a while ago about an idea that was stuck in my head and I couldn't help but write it out. I was gonna wait until the whole thing was written before posting but I'm breaking it up into chapters because I'm impatient.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT 12/6/2020: I finally got a beta! The awesome [A41](https://archiveofourown.org/users/A41) helped me clean this chapter up so I've reposted it to reflect the edits. Not to worry though, the changes aren't too crazy. They're just some fixes to grammar and pacing, I didn't altar the storyline at all.

Dim moonlight shines in through the flap of the tent he shares with Gran-Gran and Katara, the soft sounds of their sleeping filling the quiet. Sokka sat up, careful not to wake them, and unwound the wrappings circling his dominant hand. Katara shifted in her sleep and he froze; This was private. Inscriptions were usually covered up since they were something to be kept private. The only ones who didn’t wear wrappings were people who had already found their soulmates or who didn’t have Inscriptions. Or weirdos.

Nearly everyone was born with an Inscription. They always looped around your dominant hand like a bracelet and were always the first words uttered to you by your soulmate, the person with the soul that perfectly complemented yours.

And apparently, the complement to Sokka’s soul is a big fat jerk.

Sokka scowls down at the harsh words he’d burned into his mind years ago.

_Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!_

Who went around calling other people peasants, anyway? Probably some spoiled blue-blood who’d just turned their nose up at finding out Sokka was their soulmate. Well, that’s fine with him. It wasn’t like he plans on ever finding them.

That is if he even could. Most people went their whole lives without meeting the person who would say their Inscription, and some people meet their soulmates but pass them by without realizing it.

Touching someone’s Inscription is the only way to be sure they’re your soulmate; just saying the words isn’t enough. He’d asked Gran-Gran how that worked. She’d said his spirit would just _know._

Sokka wraps his Inscription and rolls over. The only thing Sokka’s spirit knows is that soulmates are more trouble than they’re worth.

***

When they’d set off to go fishing the next day, Sokka hadn't been prepared to find a boy and his giant fluffy monster encased in ice.

He _really_ hadn’t been prepared to find that that boy was apparently Katara’s soulmate.

***

 _“Katara’s soulmate is the Avatar,”_ Sokka thinks hysterically as he runs to pick up said Avatar’s staff, _“Because why not, right?”_

His feet slide a little on the deck of the Fire Navy ship, the metal still slick with water from Aang’s awesome display of waterbending earlier. He bends to pick up Aang’s staff, but his heart leaps into his throat when another hand grabs the other end. Scar Guy is trying to climb back onto the deck of the ship from where Aang had knocked him off, a vicious snarl on his face. Panicking, Sokka jabs him in the head with the staff, hoping to dislodge him. It works and Sokka lets out a whoop.

“That’s from the Water Tribe!” he can’t resist crowing triumphantly down to where Scar Guy hangs onto the chain of the boat’s anchor.

Scar Guy’s mouth falls open at Sokka’s words, his good eye widening in shock. Well, serves him right for underestimating Sokka!

***

They arrive on Kyoshi Island and get a less than warm welcome. They get ambushed and are only let free when Aang drops the townspeople’s jaws by doing some airbending. Who knew traveling with the Avatar would come in handy.

***

He gets his ass handed to him by Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She’s tough and pretty and doesn’t take any of his shit.

Too bad she isn’t in the habit of calling people “peasants.”

***

Scar Guy shows up—whom they discover is named Zuko, _actual Prince of the Fire Nation—_ and he attacks them a few days into their stay on Kyoshi Island. Sokka fights him in full Kyoshi Warrior regalia and can’t help but be offended that Zuko seems to be fighting him more seriously _now_ than when he’d been in Water Tribe Warrior garb.

He wipes off the Kyoshi makeup as soon as they’re safely on Appa’s back and looks back to get one final glimpse of Kyoshi Island. He feels a thrill go up his back when his and Zuko’s eyes meet. Zuko looks stunned, and Sokka’s face flushes in embarrassment. Zuko probably hadn’t expected one of the girls he’d fought to have actually been a dude in a dress.

***

After Sokka’s short stint in the Spirit World, Aang says he needs to go into the Fire Nation because he had a vision or something. It’s a horrendously terrible idea, but Sokka insists on going with him anyway because there’s no way he’ll let Aang go alone. They make it through the fiery barrage of a Fire Navy blockade only to arrive at the temple and discover that the Fire Sages that are supposed to be loyal to the Avatar have turned traitor.

Because of course they have.

One of them, Shyu, claims to still be loyal to Aang and helps them get to where Aang can meet Roku. After a bit of brilliance on Sokka’s part, if he does say so himself, they get the Fire Sages to open the big metal door then ambush them so Aang can get through.

In another twist of rotten luck, however, Aang gets himself captured by Zuko. Seriously, this guy appears like a bad copper piece!

While he and Katara get chained to a pillar, Aang manages to escape and squeeze through the door before they can shut it.

“He’s in!” Katara says with relief and Zuko growls.

He paces like a caged tigerdillo, his eyes flicking from Shyu’s kneeling form in front of him to where Sokka and Katara are chained up. It may just be Sokka’s imagination, but it feels like Zuko’s eyes keep lingering on _him_ specifically.

Things get _really_ weird when a smarmy guy named Zhao shows up and calls Zuko a traitor before capturing him and tying him to a pillar next to theirs. Isn’t it against the rules or something to accuse the Crown Prince of treason?

The weirdest thing is that Zuko doesn’t even _deny_ it.

Then Roku shows up and starts bringing the temple down around their ears, effectively turning Sokka’s thoughts away from Zuko.

***

 _“Why did Katara think it was a good idea to steal from pirates?”_ Sokka thinks plaintively as he stands trussed up like a pigchicken while the pirates negotiate with Zuko. The idiots don’t even know how much of a raw deal they’re getting. An idea suddenly strikes him and he grins.

Sokka turns to the pirate captain, incredulity coloring his tone. “You’re really going to hand over the _Avatar_ for a stupid piece of parchment?”

“Don’t listen to him,” Prince Jerkface says sharply. “He’s trying to turn us against each other!”

The pirate captain looks at Aang dubiously. “Your friend is the Avatar?”

“Sure is,” Sokka says brightly, adding a cajoling lilt to his tone, “and I’ll bet he’ll fetch _a lot more_ on the Black Market than that fancy scroll.”

 _“Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!”_ Zuko spits at Sokka, eyes flashing dangerously.

Aang mutters something at him, but Sokka isn’t listening. He’s too busy gaping at Zuko, his jaw on the floor because no, it can’t be, the Spirits can’t hate him _that_ much—!

Zuko freezes and stares right back, eyes wide. They hold each other's gaze for the briefest of moments before everything goes sideways. His plan to convince the pirates had worked, and there’s a mad dash to grab Aang and his sister and escape while the pirates fought with Zuko and his crew.

He doesn’t think about Zuko again until they’re on Appa and safely in the air. Once they’re out of danger, however, it’s all his brain will let him think about.

Zuko, the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, is his _soulmate._

No, it isn’t possible. That can't have been the first time Zuko addressed him directly. They’d run into Zuko a bunch of times before this and he had to have said something to Sokka before, Sokka just couldn’t remember it. Yeah, that had to be it! It’d also been a stressful day, maybe he’d misheard Zuko earlier.

He leans back against Appa’s saddle, relieved. See, there’s no need to panic! Everything’s fine!

The next morning he duly ignores how piercing golden eyes had haunted his dreams.

***

This fortune-teller is full of it.

He sits on a cushion around her fire, arms crossed and scowling. He can’t believe that Katara had talked him into this.

“Now throw the bone you chose into the fire. I’ll read your fortune in the cracks,” She serves herself tea and takes a sip. She doesn’t turn to look at him.

Sokka grumbles but does as he’s told, tossing his bone in the middle of the flames. The bone slowly forms hairline cracks so fine that he has to lean in uncomfortably close to the fire and squint to see them. Aunt Wu actually puts her teacup down and raises her eyebrows.

“Well, well,” she says, peering at the bone in the fire with interest. “What do we have here?”

“What, am I going to singlehandedly take down the Fire Lord or something?” Sokka says sarcastically. He’s not gonna fall for her theatrics.

“Not quite,” she says with an odd little smile. “You will play a role in this conflict, yes, but your acts of war will not be as monumental as your acts of love.”

“You’re saying I’m gonna stop the war with the power of _love?”_ Sokka says, his tone dripping with incredulity.

“You, child of the moon,” she goes on, unphased, “have a fate that is inextricably intertwined with another. They, a true child of the sun, are the push to your pull, the ebb to your flow. They are lost, but you will help them find their way. It is through your love that—"

Sokka shoots to his feet. “Woah, woah, woah, _back up._ Are you seriously saying that I’m gonna fall for some _firebender?”_

“I wouldn’t say that they’re just _some firebender,_ but essentially, yes.”

Gleaming golden eyes behind a bright red scar flash through his mind, and he shakes his head to dislodge the image. “No, absolutely not! I’m too smart to fall for the enemy!”

He hears something that sounds suspiciously like a snort, but when he turns to look at Aunt Wu, she’s serenely sipping her tea. “Believe what you must, but the bones never lie.”

Sokka bursts out of the room and plops down onto his cushion next to Aang’s, arms crossed and muttering darkly.

“So what did she say?” Aang asks.

“A bunch of nonsense. Fortune-telling is a load of hogmonkeywash!”

***

They finally make it to the North Pole and Sokka discovers that the beautiful girl he saw at the entrance is Princess Yue, daughter to the chief of the Northern Water Tribe.

The more time he spends with her, the more disappointed he is that the first words she had for him were nothing short of polite and cordial.

***

Sokka discovers that Princess Yue is one of those rare people born without an Inscription.

“I don’t mind, really,” she says quietly as they stand side by side on their favorite bridge, watching as the reflection of the moon rippled with the waves. “The Spirits have given me more than enough.”

Sokka can’t help but rage at the unfairness of it all. Not only does he get some jerk for a soulmate, but this kind, sweet, beautiful girl gets no one! How cruel is that?

He takes Yue’s hands in his, and sets his jaw in determination. “Screw the Spirits!”

“Sokka!” She gasps.

“I mean it, screw them and soulmates and Inscriptions!” Sokka says fiercely, conviction burning like a bonfire in his chest. “I’m sick and tired of being told what’ll make me happy! I say that we’re free to choose our own happiness, Spirits or no Spirits!”

She smiles at him and he hugs her close, pretending he hadn’t seen the sorrow in her deep blue eyes.

***

As he watches Yue fade away in a wash of silvery light, her last kiss cool on his lips, Sokka realizes why the Spirits didn’t give Yue an Inscription.

Not out of cruelty, but out of kindness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Please let me know!


	2. Book 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another chapter! I can only promise to try and keep updates consistent as life is pretty hectic right now. I got rid of the chapter count because this fic very quickly got out of hand. I'm also starting to divert from canon a bit more which is both exciting and terrifying. 
> 
> This still isn't beta-read so any mistakes are my own!
> 
> EDIT 12/5/2020: I originally uploaded the wrong draft like a dummy so I went ahead and fixed that, sorry. This one has some spelling corrections and more on Toph, which is always better.

They move on, heading towards the Earth Kingdom to find Aang an Earthbending teacher. Sokka makes sure everyone gets to bed at a reasonable hour, cracks jokes until the little furrow between Katara’s brows smooths over (usually with an eyeroll, but he’ll take it), and strategizes their next move.

Then every night after everyone has gone to bed, he gazes at the moon and wonders.

***

He keeps his Inscription covered at all times, not even removing the wrappings when he bathes. Katara comments on it once. She takes one look at his face and doesn’t bring it up again.

***

Aang’s earthbending teacher ends up being small, blind, and _obscenely powerful._ She also doesn’t wrap her Inscription despite not knowing who her soulmate is. The words, _“Wow, you’re amazing!”_ were exposed for all the world to see.

“Why should I cover them up? I mean, I _am_ amazing,” Toph had said like it was obvious when Sokka had remarked on it. 

Yeah, Toph isn’t one for modesty. 

***

They don’t see Zuko again until after his crazy sister and her equally crazy friends had chased them up and down the countryside in her giant metal monster. He even stands with them against her for a brief moment. 

And then Azula blasts her own uncle in the chest as a diversion to make a run for it. He knows he should’ve kept his eyes on her but Sokka can’t look away from proud, unwavering Zuko with his knees in the dirt, utterly falling apart. The sight of Zuko crumpled in on himself, trembling fingers fisted in his hair (Zuko has _hair_ ) has Sokka taking a step forward before he makes the conscious decision to move.

 _“Get away from us,”_ Zuko rasps, and the cracks in his voice make Sokka take another step. 

Katara steps forward too, lifting her hands placatingly. “Zuko, I can help—”

 _“Leave!”_ Zuko roars, sweeping fire through the air with a reckless slash of his hand. 

They make a run for it, but not before Sokka takes a final look back. He sees Zuko crouched over his uncle as the world literally burns down around him.

***

Toph is right, Ba Sing Se blows. 

Not only is it run by shady people like Long Feng, but it’s also _really boring._ Sure, they get everything they want delivered to them on a silver platter which—Sokka will admit—is something he can get used to, but there’s only so much coddling a guy can take before he starts going stir-crazy.

They start putting up posters for Appa regardless of what Long Feng or Joo Dee say, papering the whole city with them. Sokka’s busy putting some up onto a fancy building in the Upper Ring when he overhears rumors about an amazing tea shop that’s touted as being the best in the city. Intrigued and more than a little thirsty, Sokka decides to check it out. 

The shop is bustling when he gets there but he manages to snag a corner table. The decor is opulent without being overly gaudy, with a bright and open layout and gold dragons wrapping around marble pillars. Lively chatter from the other patrons along with a delicious, herby smell fills the air.

He nearly jumps out of his skin when a _very familiar_ voice monotonously says, “Welcome to The Jasmine Dragon, may I take your order?”

He looks up sharply and sees the exact moment that Zuko recognizes him, golden eyes widening in shock. 

_“You!”_ Zuko says, having the audacity to sound aghast.

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Sokka hisses, not keen on making a scene in the middle of a crowded tea shop now that it’s clear that Zuko isn’t going to outright attack him. “I can’t believe you managed to chase us _here_ of all places!”

 _“I didn’t chase anyone,”_ Zuko snaps, so fiercely that people from neighboring tables look their way. 

“Then you’re saying that you just _happen_ to be in the same city as us and that this _isn’t_ some crazy plot to capture Aang? Wait, do _you_ have Appa?”

“What? No! I— who’s Appa?”

“You know, giant fluffy monster, arrow on his head. I’m sure you’re familiar, you _did_ chase it all over the world.”

“Why would I have—” Zuko starts incredulously, but is interrupted by another patron calling him over. He lets out an explosive sigh and runs a hand frustratedly down his face. “I don’t have time for this.”

He turns to go and Sokka reacts on instinct, grabbing at Zuko’s wrapped left wrist to stop him from leaving. A zing like static zaps his hand at the contact and he lets go like he’d been burned at the same moment Zuko jerks away, causing Zuko to careen backwards and crash into a—thankfully empty—table. 

He hightails it out of there at the sight of Zuko’s shellshocked face, lamenting his lack of tea and pretending he didn’t still feel the phantom tingle of warmth in his palm.

***

He doesn’t know why he doesn’t tell the others.

They deserve to know that the jerk that’s been chasing after them is in the same city as them, possibly plotting their capture at this very moment. He should tell them.

But he doesn’t.

Then they run into Jet and things get way more complicated.

***

Sokka’s an idiot. He’s a big, dumb idiot that got himself thrown into an underground pit.

He should’ve just faced Suki and the others when they first arrived, but he didn’t. After Yue, he was too afraid to face Suki, to get attached. Suki didn’t put much stock in Inscriptions, but she’d made it clear that defending her island came first.

But no, he had to burst in with news that Zuko was in the city after the guilt of not telling anyone got to be too much and got himself ambushed by Azula and Friends. 

Some warrior he made. It was probably a good thing that he decided to stay behind in Ba Sing Se to talk strategy with the Earth King’s generals while Katara went off to meet with dad and the others. He probably wouldn’t’ve been much help if he’d gone. 

His pity party gets put on pause when he hears the rough sound of stone moving above him followed by the sounds of a scuffle. Then someone’s tumbling down the same chute he’d been thrown down, the sounds of their pained grunts bouncing off of the cave walls. They come to a halt on the cave floor just as Sokka hears the opening above them be sealed shut again.

It’s Zuko. Because of course it is. 

Zuko takes one look at him and gives a weary sigh. “Why is it always _you?”_

“Hey, I’m not exactly thrilled about this either, pal.” Sokka says irritably. He watches warily as Zuko gets to his feet, ready in case he tries something. Zuko doesn’t seem to be in the mood though, he just makes his way to the cave wall opposite Sokka and sits down with his back to the room. “Why are you even down here, anyway? Is this some kind of elaborate trap that I’m not seeing? Because if it is, I’m so not falling for it!” 

Zuko’s silent for so long that Sokka thinks he’s not gonna answer. Then he gives another sigh and says, “Azula had her puppets throw me down here.”

That throws Sokka for a loop. _“Your sister_ threw you down here?”

“I thought I could take her,” Zuko goes on, hands clenched on his knees. “But in the end I wasn’t even worth her time. She refused my challenge to an Agni Kai like it was nothing.”

“An Agni-what now?”

 _“Agni Kai._ It’s an honor duel between firebenders. You can’t turn down an Agni Kai, it’s a challenge to your honor.” His tone goes distinctly bitter. “But the rules never seem to apply to Azula.”

Now _there’s_ some baggage that Sokka’s not going near. Family drama or not, this guy’s still the enemy so Sokka folds his arms in front of his chest and does his best to remain resolute. “That explains what you’re doing down here, but it still doesn’t explain what you’re even doing in Ba Sing Se. You followed us here, didn’t you?”

He turns to shoot Sokka an annoyed glare. “I already _told_ you, I didn’t follow anyone!”

Sokka lets out a snort. “So what you’re saying is that I just _imagined_ the last few months where you chased us all around the world? And now you expect me to believe that you ending up in the same city as us again is just some _random coincidence?”_

Zuko shoots to his feet and rounds on Sokka. “Yes!”

“Well I don’t buy that. What could you possibly be doing here that doesn't involve once again trying to capture Aang?”

“Uncle is trying to start fresh and I feel like I owe him that much since he can’t go home because of me!”

“What do you mean start fresh?” 

“I mean he’s trying to get away from the fighting and chasing and _running!”_

“He’s trying to get away from it, but not you?” Sokka asks warily.

“Yes! I mean _no._ I mean—” Zuko lets out a frustrated cry and turns away, running a hand through his hair. 

Sokka knows poking an angry firebender is the best way to end up flame-broiled but he really can’t wrap his head around what Zuko’s saying. “So what, you’re both just out? After all that, you’re just _calling it quits?_ Whose side are you even _on?”_

“I’m not on _anyone’s_ side! I’m _done!_ I’m donewith the lies and the anger and being told what should and shouldn’t make me happy! I’m done with all of it!”

Sokka feels his temper flare and he can’t help but get in Zuko’s face, firebending be damned. “What about all of the damage your family’s done, huh? What about the damage that they’re _doing?_ You’re just going to ignore all of that?”

“The last time I tried to stand up to my father he decided to teach me a permanent lesson _on my face!”_ Zuko snaps, pointing at his scar angrily.

Sokka recoils like he’d been slapped. “What?”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know,” Zuko scoffs.

Sokka puts his hands up, mind still reeling. “I really, _really_ don’t.” 

Zuko eyes him suspiciously for a long moment before finally looking away, his anger seemingly leaving him. “I spoke out against the cruelty of one of my father’s generals and disrespected him. Then he banished me and said I couldn’t return until I’d captured the Avatar. I was thirteen.”

A deafening silence fills the cave, its weight almost oppressive. 

Sokka thinks he’s gonna be sick. He thinks of his own dad. Sure, he’s made Hakoda mad plenty of times, like when he was seven and he’d sealed Katara inside of the igloo they’d been building. Then there was that one time when he was eleven when he’d tried to go on a hunt by himself only to miss supper because he got chased up a tree by an angry tiger seal. 

His dad had been angry and lectured him each time for what he’d done, but he’d— He’d never— _Spirits._

“Dude, you have to understand how seriously messed up that was,” Sokka says, a slight tremor in his voice.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Zuko says quietly, still not meeting Sokka’s eyes.

“And you still wanted to go back to him after that?” Sokka asks cautiously.

“I did, for a long time.”

“What about now?” 

Zuko stays silent, and for a long moment all that Sokka can hear is the sounds of their breathing. 

“Listen, I’m sorry for yelling at you before,” Sokka says quietly.

“It’s fine.” 

“It’s just that for the longest time you were nothing but this angry jerk that kept appearing out of nowhere to attack us. No offense,” Sokka adds hurriedly. 

“None taken,” Zuko says with an eyeroll, the corner of his mouth tilting up slightly. It’s the first time Sokka has seen an expression that isn’t gloom and doom-y on his face. It’s a good look on him.

Sokka offers Zuko an easy grin. “So you and your uncle have given up your nefarious ways, I get that. But why a tea shop? I didn’t peg you for the customer service type.”

Zuko shrugs uncomfortably and looks away, a flush coloring his cheeks. “Uncle really likes tea.” 

Huh, so Prince Prickly gets awkward when he isn’t all growly. 

_Cute,_ Sokka’s brain supplies and he shoves the thought away hastily. 

They lapse into a surprisingly comfortable silence, only broken by the distant sounds of running water. 

“I get it by the way,” Sokka says after a moment, “what you said about being done with being told what should make you happy.” 

He looks down at his own wrapped wrist. “Everyone is _so sure_ that soulmates are a sure thing. Everyone but me.”

“Do you… not believe in soulmates?” Zuko sounds surprised and almost… disappointed? Which didn’t make any sense.

“I don’t know. Maybe not?” Sokka smiles wryly. “It’s kinda hard to believe that the perfect complement to my soul is someone who goes around insulting people they’ve just met.”

Zuko’s focus suddenly snaps to Sokka’s wrist then up to his face, looking stricken. “You mean— Your Inscription is an _insult?”_

“Hey man, it’s not a big deal,” Sokka says, eyes wide. 

_“Of course it is,”_ Zuko says fiercely, running an agitated hand through his hair. “I mean, how could I—”

“Really, it’s cool,” Sokka interrupts while raising his hands placatingly, taken aback by Zuko’s reaction. Who knew the guy felt so strongly about soulmates? “I don’t even care. I mean, it’s not like I ever plan on finding them.”

Zuko’s whole body stills. “What?”

Sokka scratches the back of his head. “My soulmate’s apparently a big jerk, I’ve come to terms with that a long time ago. I’ve decided that I’m not gonna go looking for someone like that, so no harm no foul, right?”

Zuko seems to search Sokka’s face for something before his eyes go wide. “You mean you don’t know?”

“Know what?” Sokka says a little breathlessly, heart suddenly beating like a war drum in his chest. When did they get so _close?_

At this distance, Sokka could count every one of Zuko’s surprisingly long lashes if he wanted to. The glow from the crystals all around them also make Zuko’s golden eyes appear almost molten, their intense gaze locked onto Sokka.

Zuko’s hand slowly starts reaching for Sokka’s wrapped wrist and—

A loud rumble makes them spring apart as crystals start shattering on the wall behind them. The cave wall then opens to reveal Aang and Zuko’s uncle. 

“Aang, buddy, am I glad to see you!” Sokka goes over to give Aang a hug, valiantly ignoring how high-pitched he sounds and how hot his face feels. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Zuko awkwardly accept a hug from his uncle. Zuko and Aang lock eyes and tension immediately fills the air. 

“Uncle, I don’t understand, what are you doing with the Avatar?”

“Saving _you,_ that’s what,” Aang retorts so snidely that Zuko has to be held back by his uncle. In any other situation Sokka would be proud of how brazenly rude the so-called pacifist monk was being. (Aw, who’s he kidding, he’s _so proud.)_

They split up after that, but Sokka can’t resist and take one last look back at Zuko. His uncle is speaking to him in a low voice and Zuko is looking down, brows furrowed. Then the cave they’re in turns sharply and Sokka can’t see them anymore.

***

Later, Sokka will ride on Appa’s back and silently observe as his weeping sister heals the horrifying wound on a still and unmoving Aang. As Ba Sing Se burns far below them he’ll wonder, not for the first time, at how people can think that the Spirits are anything like forgiving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


End file.
